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3.4.4 – Educational Programs |
The institution has a defined and published policy for evaluating, awarding, and accepting credit for transfer, experiential learning, advanced placement, and professional certificates that is consistent with its mission and ensures that course work and learning outcomes are at the collegiate level and comparable to the institutions own degree programs. The institution assumes responsibility for the academic quality of any course work or credit recorded on the institutions transcript.
__X__ Compliance __ ____ Partial Compliance _____ Non-Compliance
Statement of Rationale for Judgment of Compliance
A&M-Texarkana operates under the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) Rule Chapter 4, Subchapter B Transfer of Credit, Core Curriculum and Field of Study Curricula, that applies to all state public institutions of higher education.1 The campus transfer policy published in the Catalog corresponds to the THECB Rule.2
The university does offer limited credit for experiential learning and publishes its policy in the Catalog.3 The Council for the Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL) 4 is a group of some 400 institutions of higher education, including TAMU-T, which is working to advance understanding and practice in the assessment of self-acquired learning for academic credit. Presently the experiential credit is offered at this institution only through the Bachelor of Applied Arts and Sciences (BAAS) program.5
Since A&M-Texarkana is an upper-level institution, there is no pertinent policy for advanced placement of students.
Credit for professional certificates is awarded through A&M-Texarkana only in the BAAS program, and only if the professional certificate is recognized and approved by the American Council for Education (ACE).
All credits awarded, or accepted for transfer, and all credits awarded for experiential learning, advanced placement, or professional certificates are consistent with the mission of A&M-Texarkana as an upper-level regional university 6a that is providing education opportunities 6b for the region while preparing individuals for gainful employment.6c
The institution takes considerable care to ensure that course work and/or learning outcomes of awarded or transferred credits are at the collegiate level. Traditional credit is accepted from institutions accredited by one of the regional accreditation agencies recognized by the Council of Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA).7a All credits transferred from an international college or university must be evaluated by an accredited evaluation service such as World Evaluation Services,7b and in the event of a disputed transfer of credit, there is a campus grievance procedure outlined.7c Under certain conditions, students may be awarded credits from non-traditional sources such as standardized examination, military service, institutionally devised examinations, experiential learning, and by correspondence or extension.8
To ensure that course work and learning outcomes for credits awarded are comparable to the institution’s own degree programs, the university applies the following processes for evaluating the amount of credit to be awarded. Standardized examinations utilize two widely accepted testing programs, the Advanced Placement Program (AP) and the College Level Examine Program (CLEP).9a Military service credits earned through the United States Armed Forces Institute (USAFI) transfer at face value; the level of all other military credits awarded are determined by standards of the Commission on Accreditation of Service Experiences (CASE).9b Students may challenge any undergraduate course in the University’s course inventory with the exception of practicum and field experience courses through institutionally devised examinations. Credit will awarded according to the credits allocated to each course the student challenges.9c The institution ensures that experiential learning credits are comparable with it’s own degree programs by awarding the students’ learning in accordance with CAEL guidelines.9d And credits awarded for correspondence or extension work are transferred in only, since A&M-Texarkana does not offer correspondence or extension courses.9e
By default the institution assumes responsibility for the academic quality of any course work or credit recorded on the institution’s transcript.
Organizational unit(s) responsible for this requirement: Admissions, Provost and VPAA
Documentation
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Web Address or Document Location |
Date Website Accessed |
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1 |
http://www.thecb.state.tx.us/CBRules/tac3.cfm?Chapter_ID=4&SubChapter=B > Entire document. |
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2 A&M-Texarkana General Catalog 2004-2005 |
http://www.tamut.edu/admissions/0405catalog.pdf > Page 19 Transfer of Credit |
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3 A&M-Texarkana General Catalog 2004-2005 |
http://www.tamut.edu/admissions/0405catalog.pdf
> Page 21 Experiential Learning |
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4 Council for Adult and Experiential Learning |
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5 A&M-Texarkana General Catalog 2004-2005 |
http://www.tamut.edu/admissions/0405catalog.pdf
> See pages 55-56 Degree: Bachelor of
Applied Arts and Sciences |
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6 |
http://www.tamut.edu/administrative/mission.php?pageid=43 6a Second sentence 6b First sentence 6c Third paragraph, first sentence |
7/13/05 |
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7 A&M-Texarkana General Catalog 2004-2005 |
http://www.tamut.edu/admissions/0405catalog.pdf > 7a Page 20, “Accredited Institutions” > 7b Page 20, “Accredited Institutions,” last paragraph > 7c Page 20-21, “Guidelines
for Resolution of Transfer Disputes” |
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8 A&M-Texarkana General Catalog 2004-2005 |
http://www.tamut.edu/admissions/0405catalog.pdf
> See page 20-21, “Credit by Standardized Examination,” “Military
Service Credit,” “Institutionally Devised Examinations,” “Experiential
Learning,” “Correspondence and Extension Credit” |
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9 A&M-Texarkana General Catalog 2004-2005 |
http://www.tamut.edu/admissions/0405catalog.pdf > 9a Page 20, See “Credit by Standardized Examination” > 9b Page 20, See “Military Service Credit” > 9c Page 20, See “Institutionally Devised Examinations” > 9d Page 21, See “Experiential Learning” > 9e Page 21, See
“Correspondence and Extension Credit” |
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